Content, such as media content, may be distributed to recipients in various ways. For example, an audio content program may be disseminated by radio transmission, wherein the audio content program is transmitted from a radio station, conveyed modulated into radio waves, received in a receiver, demodulated and played over a loudspeaker comprised in the receiver device.
Content may be modulated into radio waves using analogue or digital modulation, wherein frequency modulation, FM, is an example of analogue modulation and quadrature amplitude modulation, QAM, for example QAM-16, is an example of digital modulation.
Using digital modulation, content may be streamed to digital receivers over an air interface. For example, a smartphone may receive an encoded content stream over a cellular or non-cellular air interface for presentation to a user. Alternatively, an encoded digital content stream may be conveyed over the Internet, for example, for presentation to a tablet, desktop or laptop computer user.
Content presented to a user may be compiled from more than one source item. For example, a content stream may be furnished with locally or personally relevant content items. A locally or personally relevant content item may be inserted in a content stream, for example where the content stream has an empty segment of known length, the empty segment may be filled with a locally relevant information bulletin.
An example is an industrial plant, wherein stream, such as for example a background music or informational stream, is furnished with locally relevant informative items. Such informative items may comprise, for example, safety update instructions, process instructions specific to sections of the industrial plant, or messages meant for specific persons. If the approximate location of the person is known, the message may be provided in an empty segment of the stream in the location where he is, and other content may be inserted in the empty segment of the stream in other locations.
Inserted content items may alternatively comprise advertisements tailored for specific geographically and/or demographically defined target audiences.